Hey, time for me to start a journal. I am starting to see some good results and thought it would be great to document as I go.

I started off trying to do it on my own but wasn't seeing any results and I hate feeling like I'm working hard but not smart, so I signed up with Veggie Princess and I'm going like a boeing. I'm in my eighth week of working out with weights now. My upper body is quite weak and I was getting back into it after a bit of a long break. Excuses, excuses. I have to be careful of my shoulder as it gets very inflamed at times, an old injury, so I try not to lift weights heavier than that I can hold perfect form. Anyway so today I did:

I'm almost embarrassed at doing only 5 pounds on the rear lat raises, but I swear by number 12 I am hardly lifting half way! Also, my gym is annoying in that it goes from 5 to 8 pounds. there are no 6's or 7's. Same with the barbells, it goes from 20 pounds to 40! I mean how about a 25 or a 30? So sometimes I am stuck with the 20 because 40 is just too heavy, but the 20 is really light.

I am eating very strictly which feels wonderful. I operate very well within very strict, structured plans. I have a goal of July 31st, the goal is to lose weight and body fat and look great in a bikini as I am off to Thailand for a holiday and from there moving to Dubai. I definitely don't want to be arriving in a new place feeling under-confident as I have to land myself a fabulous job!

Nice! good luck with your goals.
For the free weights at your gym, it sucks. Try suggesting them to buy some 25, 30 and 35lb barbells. As for the dumbells, if they don't wanna buy 6 and 7lb, it costs almost nothing so they should do it, to keep their clientele satisfied. If they're too stupid to do that, try working on the machines...

Single Leg Press 3x12 at 50 pounds
Smith Machine Incline Bench Press 4x15/8/7/8 at 30/40/40/35 pounds
Tricep Rope Pulldown 3x12/10/8 - Not sure what weight I'm doing since there are no numbers on the weights, its number 3 down so maybe 30...
Leg Extension 3x15 at 50 pounds. I did these really slowly with a good pause at the top of each one, really felt the burn!
Tricep Dips 3x12
Standing Calf Raises 3x15 at 40/60/80 pounds
Pushups 3x6 - this is the first time in my life doing 'real' pushups and I nearly land on my face at the 6th one. Try to keep perfect form.

Nice! good luck with your goals. For the free weights at your gym, it sucks. Try suggesting them to buy some 25, 30 and 35lb barbells. As for the dumbells, if they don't wanna buy 6 and 7lb, it costs almost nothing so they should do it, to keep their clientele satisfied. If they're too stupid to do that, try working on the machines...

I hope we can see how your progression goes with some pictures soon.

Thank you! Its kind of weird in Taiwan, they don't seem to worry about keeping customers happy here. Its like "if you don't like it, why don't you go somewhere else?" and since there is only one gym in the entire area.... Its also why we can only go to specifically vegetarian restaurants here and haven't eaten pizza since we moved here. You can't ask for something without cheese, or can I have this but without the mayo etc, the attitude is, this is how it comes, if you don't like it then why did you come here? They just don't do menu changes!

Today is a rest day which makes me feel guilty, yet I know I need it. Its perfect coming in the middle of the week as I am just about worn out. Until this afternoon I planned to just do an extra cardio session this evening, but from about 4:30 onwards I thought it was a bad idea. I am just wiped out. Not to feel too sorry for myself but I am organising a huge across continent move as well as working full time in a highly active energetic teaching job and of course trying to whip my ass into shape at the same time.

Its hugely exciting though! I didn't know too much about Dubai but from what I've been reading it sounds fabulous, really the place to be! I have lined up a trial job as a journalist on a magazine when I get there. They are only prepared to offer me a trial as I haven't got any journalism experience, though I've got a degree in English and am a writer, but I write books, not articles, so they want to give me a trial first and then see about the offer.

I have seriously hurt my neck. Not sure if it was on the Smith Machine, or if it was doing the barbell biceps. I usually do 20 pounds with a straight bar, the next one up in the straight bar is 40 pounds. There is one of those curved bars at 30 pounds, so I decided to try that today. I find those very uncomfortable to hold, even though it is supposed to be easier or something. Also while 20 may be too light, 30 was definitely too heavy. On the last reps of each of the sets I was straining in a major way and form went out the window. I should know better! So I actually think that was where I pulled something. I can't move my neck to the left, if I need to look left I have to move my whole upper body! So I hope that is going to be okay tomorrow. Have to do a cardio workout tomorrow and then on Sunday I want to do some more and some yoga too.

hey allison! this is the first time i've read your blog. i work with veggieprincess too! you're doing awesome! the first thing i read that cracked me up was about the rear delt raises being 5 pounds. 5 months later and i'm still hitting ten pounds tops. that exercise is friggen hard! don't be embarrassed about 5 lbs. you will get stronger!
awesome work!

Oh and I forgot to mention that I had to get up at 5:00 am this morning! Hectic! I have to get all the way across town to the gym and then all the way across town to work afterwards on a Friday. I never used to be a morning person, but since it is the only time I have to work out, I started doing the affirmation "I love getting up early!" and it seems to have worked! I could never do it before and now I'm doing it every day! Though thankfully the 5:00am start is only once a week. Otherwise its a much more civilized 5:45

hey allison! this is the first time i've read your blog. i work with veggieprincess too! you're doing awesome! the first thing i read that cracked me up was about the rear delt raises being 5 pounds. 5 months later and i'm still hitting ten pounds tops. that exercise is friggen hard! don't be embarrassed about 5 lbs. you will get stronger!awesome work!

Oh thank you so much! I've been reading your blog too! That is so funny! Yes that exercise just kills doesn't it!

Well my body clock has completely reset, I woke up at 6:15 this morning and couldn't go back to sleep. And its Saturday! Sleep in day! So I gave up, got up and have just finished 40 minutes cardio on the treadmill. That'll be it for today. I just got a new diet plan, it looks fantastic and I'm excited to get started.

I'm going to the doctor later, not sure if they'll be open on a Saturday and can't phone of course as I don't speak Chinese. Hoping to get some blood tests done just to make sure things are all working as they should be...

Thanks VeggiePrincess, I will send those logs. Will only hear back from doctor on Thurs so will let you know.

I thankfully slept in a little this morning, got up at 8:00 and did a Cindy Crawford DVD. It kicked my butt! I've had it for years and years, its called "The Next Challenge" and its super athletic, lots of kicks and jumps, squats and lunges. All the weights are done at super fast pace and with light weights, I do the whole thing with 6 pound dumbbells. it was really fun to do for a change and it feels like a nice end to the week to finish off with a full body overall workout without heavy weight, yet that can still kick your ass. Since it is so fast paced its a great cardio workout too. Probably too much of a cardio workout for my goals right now as I'm supposed to be keeping my heart rate at a more moderate intensity, and this has sections where I'm panting, but that is just during the leg workout which is only about 20 minutes. The whole tape is an hour and the other 40 minutes is abs and upper body weights so that is then a nice cardio range. I ordered a heart rate monitor so I can keep track, the ones on the cardio machines at gym don't always work.

Well I took some progress pics this morning. was thinking of entering the legs competition but then I couldn't seem to take pics where my legs looked longer than 5 inches. I didn't want to ask my husband as we would still be sitting there working on the lighting two hours later. Anyway so these are just to show progress, well I can compare some later pics with these. So here goes:

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